First, let me clarify that this is not satire. That being said, I still don’t think I’ve fully wrapped my mind around what I just watched, which prompted me to instantly stop what I was doing and write this.

In what I can only describe as something that would make an excellent Saturday Night Live skit (except this is a real commercial being broadcast) the Koch brothers claim that Americans making over $34,000 per year are part of the 1%.

Well, the 1% —of the world.

Oh–now I see. If we compare those in the United States making at least $34,000 per year to say, you’re average Ethiopian, then they’re absolutely in the top 1%—as long as they lived in Ethiopia.

Again, this is not satire. It’s a real commercial that compares the economic level of Americans making $34,000 per year to those that live in impoverished countries where the infant mortality rate is something like 50 for every 1,000 births—you know, like Haiti.

Now I’ve seen a lot of ridiculous things in my life. Hell, I watched Sharknado, and even thatwasn’t as ridiculous as watching this sixty-three second Koch brothers commercial.

This ad also takes a shot at health care, by claiming that industrialized countries like the United States lead the world in life expectancy and implying that more regulations put that in jeopardy of falling. In effect, if we don’t stop regulating the unethical behavior of people like the Koch brothers—we’re all going to die at younger ages.

What they don’t mention is that every country that actually ranks in the top 10 for life expectancy has socialized health care—something else the Koch brothers strongly oppose. Many of the other countries ranked ahead of the United States have socialized health care as well.

Oh, and the ad also doesn’t mention that American life expectancy is actually increasing, not falling.

By the way, the countries this “study” ranks ahead of the United States in many categories — countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland and Chile — are all tiny when compared to the United States. The comparisons are completely ridiculous.

But the truth is, this ad basically says, “Hey, look, for $34,000 you people would be living like kings in (insert name of developing country) so you should stop complaining.”

One thought on “Do You Make $34,000 Per Year? Congratulations, the Koch Brothers Say You’re Part of The 1%”

That $34,000 per year is actually for a single person taking home that in a year. That is approximately $2933 per month take home. It would be a gross income of about $48000 per year. This article was written a couple years ago and now that $34000 per year take home is now in the 3% and not the 1% in the world. The global wealth calculator has income as after tax take home per year. If you gross $48000 per year and take home $34000 per year as a single person you are in the richest 3% in the world now and not the 1%. Just goes to show you how horrible income inequality is becoming. A single person making around $48000 gross is about 30-50 times the global economy. The Koch brothers 42,500,000 times the global economy. They are not fooling me.